


quemar; to burn

by i_was_human



Series: forged from flame [4]
Category: Lost in Translation (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Fire, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kings & Queens, Post-Betrayal, War, no beta we die like minor characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:02:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27336115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_was_human/pseuds/i_was_human
Summary: "Why, hyung?"Dongho tilts his head to the side, a flicker of something Jaewon can't put a name to shining in those cruel eyes. "A king has to put his nation first.""This iswar!" Jaewon screams, and he's not sure if he's crying from grief or from the overwhelming amount of smoke. "This is- this iswar, hyung, people aredying-"
Relationships: Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Kang Dongho | D.Min, Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Kim Daehyun, Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Lee Minsoo
Series: forged from flame [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981847
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	quemar; to burn

When Daehyun tells him Dongho shot him in the shoulder, Jaewon's first reaction is disbelief.

They just completed the ceremony - what, a month ago? And Dongho hasn't shown _any_ signs of wanting to do the whole conquering thing since, so what the _fuck_ is Daehyun talking about?

But-

Daehyun's hand is clutching his shoulder, and his advisors are nowhere to be seen, and there's blood on his face and horror in his eyes.

Still, Jaewon can't quite bring himself to believe it. Not Dongho - not the man who loves sunrises and dragons and promised to uphold peace alongside of them. Daehyun _has_ to be joking.

And then an advisor informs him that a massive army is marching towards their city, and it seems like a lot less of a joke. 

Jaewon stands out on the balcony - the balcony he watches the sunrise on, the balcony where Dongho told him he wanted to know him for a long time - and stares out at the distant crowd, his heart in his throat.

God, he wishes Daehyun was joking. He wishes he could turn back the clock, go back to that day a month ago when Dongho promised to uphold peace with the rest of them ( ~~he lied he lied _why did he lie?_ )~~ and do-

do _anything_ , really.

"Does Minsoo know?" he asks, and Daehyun shakes his head, grip white-knuckled on the railing.

"No time. I just- I had to get out before-"

 _Before I died_.

He doesn't have to say it.

"He wouldn't have done it," Jaewon assures him, but the words sound fake even to his ears. "He wouldn't- he _cares about us_ , Dae-"

"He burned my home to the ground," Daehyun replies, voice broken and grieving and _aching_ in a way Jaewon can't even begin to understand. "He killed- he killed Minyoung, hyung, he-"

And _oh_ , as much as Daehyun's saying these things, Jaewon can't believe them.

He just-

he can't.

* * *

When Dongho comes, Jaewon's not there.

He'll regret this to the end of his days.

He agreed to fly up to the North with Daehyun and help him get settled in with Minsoo, since Minsoo's home is the furthest away from the army's path, but when he reaches home, he's immediately blinded by smoke.

_No._

He coughs, pulling his goggles over his eyes and shaking out his hair. Why- why is there so much _smoke_ -

The city's burning.

Jaewon hovers over the carnage, eyes wide with horror, and _oh_ , the suburbs are burning, the buildings are burning, his castle, his home is burning, and before he can even think, he's leaping off his dragon's back and sprinting for the castle.

_No, no, nonono-_

It's sunset.

Of course, there's no way to tell.

He skids to a stop at the door to his castle, eyes widening as he catches sight of a familiar silhouette among the flames, and _oh_ , he can't breathe.

Dongho stares at him, eyes void of any sort of emotion, and Jaewon's breath catches at the sight of that silver circlet, at the sight of those violet eyes so empty, at the realization that _Dongho has done this_.

He can hear people screaming in the background, more dying out with each passing second.

"Hyung," Jaewon breathes, and Dongho's grip tightens on his sword, dark hair falling into his eyes as he holds Jaewon's gaze. 

What can he say?

His heart pounds in his ears - his castle is burning, burning, burning and everyone's still inside, burning and _everyone is dying_ \- and he steps forwards, only to be stopped by the end of a sword.

"Leave."

Dongho's voice is rough, and as Jaewon tries to catch his gaze, he finds he can't find it.

"Why?" Jaewon breathes, and Dongho's grip tightens further.

"You can't understand."

"Wh- _why_?" Jaewon begs, taking a step forwards.

There's ash filling the air, eclipsing the sunset, _he's never going to see another sunset-_

"Why, hyung?"

Dongho tilts his head to the side, a flicker of something Jaewon can't put a name to shining in those cruel eyes. "A king has to put his nation first."

"This is _war_!" Jaewon screams, and he's not sure if he's crying from grief or from the overwhelming amount of smoke. "This is- this is _war_ , hyung, people are _dying_ -"

He cuts himself off, tears dripping off his chin as he stares at the bloodstained path.

"...why?"

"You already know why."

Jaewon can't breathe.

"Leave," Dongho commands, and Jaewon takes a step back, shaking his head as he does.

His crown clatters to the pavement, and _let it_ , Jaewon thinks. _I don't deserve to be called a king after what I've let him do_.

 _Let him_ \- and that's the crux of it, isn't it?

He put Daehyun over his kingdom.

He put Daehyun over his kingdom, and now it's aflame, the color of the sunsets they all love so dearly, and Jaewon _can't breathe_ -

Something grabs the back of his jacket and hauls him into the air, and he raises his head, blinking blearily at a familiar face.

"Min... soo... hyung?"

Minsoo doesn't reply.

Instead, Jaewon presses his face into the back of Minsoo's jacket and cries.

* * *

When he lands, there's ash in his hair.

Daehyun comes to help him off Michta, and _oh_ , Rize's here too, and-

too few.

Too few of his people are here.

He falls to his knees, a broken wail escaping his lips, and Daehyun wraps an arm around his shoulders, hoisting him to his feet and leading him into the cave.

 _The cave_.

A two-pronged attack - one to take out Minsoo's home, and one to take out Jaewon's.

How sadistically intelligent.

"It's gone," Jaewon gasps, and Daehyun nods, grief flickering in his eyes. "It- it's _gone_ , they're-"

They must have made it out, right? Surely.

His friends can't... they can't _all be dead_.

"Are... are they here?"

Daehyun shakes his head - slow, so slow - and Jaewon presses his face into his hands, hot tears leaking over his numb hands.

It's gone.

It's all gone.

At the entrance of the cave, Minsoo slips away, his sword in its sheath and crown perched atop his wind-swept hair.

Dongho is going to pay for what he's done.

**Author's Note:**

> i wonder what happened? pls leave me your comments and theories o3o
> 
> this entire fic was written while listening to "boom boom" by 2wei
> 
> also in case you're wondering about the title, i've been studying spanish for uhhhhhhhh ten years and wanted to have a use for it (and the verb quemar seemed to fit this fic)
> 
> [twit](https://twitter.com/i_was_human_) | [lit fic discord!](https://discord.gg/CNunB74)


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